Seaburg, August "Gus" or "Gust"

1881-1966 | Stationmaster, Alaska Railroad

August "Gus" or “Gust” Seaburg [Sjoberg] was born in Backefors, Dalsland, Sweden on July 22, 1881, the son of Johonnes Sjoberg and Hedda Sjoberg. He immigrated to the United States on May 5, 1905, arriving at Marquette, Michigan, on that date. In 1922, his name was changed from Sjoberg to Seaburg when he became a naturalized U.S. citizen.[1]

Seaburg [Sjoberg] was working as a carpenter in Seattle, Washington when he met Kristina “Christine” Emilia Nelson in 1912. She was born in Lysvik, Varmland, Sweden on January 6, 1885, and immigrated to the United States in 1905. They were married in Seattle on May 2, 1914. In 1915, after hearing the news of the construction of the Alaska Railroad, he decided to seek greater opportunities at the tent city at Ship Creek, Alaska. Leaving his wife, Kristina, and daughter Helen, an infant, born in Seattle, on February 6, 1915, he traveled by steamship north to Alaska.[2]

After Seaburg's arrival in Anchorage, he performed contract work installing railroad ties for the Alaskan Engineering Commission (AEC), the federal agency in charge of construction of the Alaska Railroad. He was subsequently hired as a foreman on a tie-laying crew. His wife and daughter joined him in 1916 when he was promoted to stationmaster at Matanuska. His work later took him to stations both north and south of Anchorage, where he supervised tie installations. Later, he was employed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Fort Richardson, Alaska.[3]

Seaburg built the family home at 4th Avenue and Eagle Street, Anchorage. The Seaburgs raised four daughters; Helen; Hazel (born, May 27, 1917, in Anchorage); Eleanor "Lillian” (born in 1919); and Beryl (born, March 16, 1923, in Anchorage). On February 20, 1936, their sixteen-year old daughter, Lillian, died at Anchorage Hospital of scarlet fever. She was vice president of the junior class at Anchorage High School and held the highest scholastic standing in her class.[4] In 1941, their mother, Kristina "Christine," was naturalized as a U.S. citizen at the U.S. District Court at Anchorage.

On November 23, 1959, Kristina “Christine” Emilia Nelson Seaburg died in Denver, Colorado, where she had traveled for medical treatment. Two years after his wife’s death, Seaburg returned to Backefors, Sweden, where he died on December 14, 1966. He was survived by three daughters: Helen Seaburg McGee (1915-1975); Hazel Seaburg Warwick (1917-2006),[5] of Anchorage; and Beryl Seaburg Lindsay (1923-1987).[6] August and Kristina "Christine" Seaburg are buried at the Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery. Their daughter, Lillian, is also buried in the family plot at the Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery.[7]

August "Gus" or "Gust" Seaburg in front of his first Anchorage home, 4th Avenue and Eagle Street, 1925.

Courtesy of the Seaburg family.

Helen Seaburg McGee (1915-1975).

Courtesy of the Seaburg family.

August "Gus" or "Gust" Seaburg in Sweden, ca. 1965.

Courtesy of the Seaburg family.

Kristina "Christine" Seaburg, ca. 1949.

Courtesy of the Seaburg family.

The Seaburg family home, remodeled, at 4th Avenue and Eagle Street, Anchorage, 1949.

Courtesy of the Seaburg family.

Hazel Seaburg Warwick (1917-2006).

Courtesy of the Seaburg family.

Eleanor "Lillian" Seaburg (1919-1936).

Courtesy of the Seaburg family.

Beryl Seaburg Lindsey (1923-1987).

Courtesy of the Seaburg family.

Kristina "Christine" Seaburg tending her garden.

Courtesy of the Seaburg family.

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Endnotes

[1] Draft registration card, August Seaburg, Draft Registration Cards for the Fourth Registration for Alaska, April 27, 1942, NAJ Number 4504983, Record Group 147, Records of the Selective Service System, National Archives at St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 [database on-line], http://ancestry.com (accessed October 19, 2016); Gust Seaburg, U.S. 1920 Census, Anchorage, Third Judicial District, Alaska, ED 11, stamped page 36, National Archives Microfilm Publication T625, Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920, Roll 2031, 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line], http://ancestry.com (accessed October 19, 2016); and Index card, August Seaburg [August Sjoberg], March 18, 1922, U.S. District Court, District of Alaska, Third Division (Anchorage, AK), National Archives Microfilm Publication M1788, Indexes to Naturalization Records of the U.S. District Court for the District, Territory, and State of Alaska (Third Division), 1903-1991, Roll 16, U.S. Naturalization Record Indexes, 1791-1992 (Indexed in World Archives Project) [database on-line], http://ancestry.com (accessed October 19, 2016).

[2] Index card, Kristina Emilia Nelson Seaburg, U.S. District Court, Anchorage, AK, October 16, 1941, National Archives Microfilm Publication M1788, Indexes to Naturalization Records of the U.S. District Court for the District, Territory, and State of Alaska (Third Division), 1903-1991, U.S., Naturalization Record Indexes, 1791-1992 (Indexed in World Archives Project) [database on-line], http://ancestry.com (accessed October 20, 2016).

Sources

This biographical sketch of August Seaburg is based on an essay which originally appeared in John P. Bagoy's Legends & Legacies, Anchorage 1910-1935 (Anchorage: Publications Consultants, 2001), 55. See also the August Seaburg file, Bagoy Family Pioneer Files (2004.11), Box 7, Atwood Resource Center, Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, Anchorage, AK. Photographs courtesy of the Seaburg family. Edited by Mina Jacobs, 2012. Note: edited, revised, and expanded by Bruce Parham, October 20, 2016.